The present invention relates to floor cleaning apparatus and, more particularly, to an improved jet wand for hard floor cleaning applications, characterized by use of a pair of laterally spaced elongate vacuum ports, each of which carry a squeegee wiper blade upon its exterior portion which functions to accumulate spent cleaning solution in close proximity to a respective vacuum port during both forward and reverse manipulation of the wand upon the floor surface.
Prior art commercial cleaning systems for hard floor surfaces such as tile, linoleum, concrete, marble, wood and the like are well known. Typically, such prior art cleaning systems utilize a hand held wand through which a cleaning solution is directed under pressure onto the floor surface and subsequently extracted or removed from the floor surface by way of a vacuum port formed in the wand. To aid in the extraction process, prior art devices have utilized a squeegee wiper blade positioned adjacent to the vacuum port which strips the solution from the floor surface and directs the same toward the vacuum port. Although such prior art cleaning systems have proven generally effective, they possess inherent deficiencies which have detracted from their overall effectiveness in operation.
Foremost of these deficiencies has been the requirement for such prior art wands to be manipulated in solely one direction during the extraction of the cleaning solution from the floor surface. The requirement for single direction operation has been mandated due to the operation of the squeegee wiper blade of the prior art wherein it will only serve to strip water from the floor surface and accumulate the same adjacent the vacuum port in a single direction, whereas in the reverse direction, the squeegee will actually push the spent cleaning solution away from the vacuum port. As will be recognized, this single direction limitation in the prior art necessarily increases labor costs due to wasted motion and further, oftentimes prevents adequate floor cleaning in restricted area locations of the room, i.e. for instance in tight corners or the like.
In addition to the single direction limitations, the prior art cleaning devices have additionally been very prone to cleaning solution splashing during operation. The splashing deficiencies stem from the extremely high pressure supply of cleaning solution to the floor surface, typically being between 500 and 1000 pounds per square inch. As will be recognized, upon contacting the floor surface the cleaning solution has a high propensity to splash upwardly and outwardly from the wand, thereby oftentimes causing damage to surrounding environmental structures such as wall surfaces and furniture surfaces.
Further, the prior art squeegee wet wands have typically failed to provide easy cleaning and/or replacement of the cleaning solution supply system and squeegee wiper blade and additionally have been expensive to produce and use.
Thus, there exists a substantial need in the art for an improved squeegee jet wand for use in hard floor cleaning applications which may be effectively utilized in both forward and reverse directions, reduces splashing and facilitates rapid cleaning and repair of internal components of the jet wand.